I find the problem here is that she asked a full question first and switched to shorthand for the reply. That would have thrown me, along with the fact that not many people study shorthand any more. Who transcribes dication by hand outside a courtroom any more?

My kids's brains are still broken after I explained to them that there the internet existed before there was a world wide web, and just like pre-windows computers, you had to remember where things were and type commands. Of course, I never used the internet for much except for a few MUDs and some usenet groups.

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Some people lift weights. I lift measures. It's a far more esoteric workout. - (Quoted from a personal friend)

"My kids's brains are still broken after I explained to them that there the internet existed before there was a world wide web, and just like pre-windows computers, you had to remember where things were and type commands. Of course, I never used the internet for much except for a few MUDs and some usenet groups."

And email, I presume? I've had that same discussion, but the part that breaks my brain is that I had to have it with some of my younger coworkers, who should know better.

Phtt! Coffee, meet keyboard! I forgot about the "any" key. I remember looking all over for it.

Back in the late 70s, I worked for a large electronics manufacturer in Silicon Valley. I was not even a tech; Just a "rework girl." My supervisor assigned me to entering failure data into a program he wrote. His program writing abilities were only slightly more advanced than my data entry skills. I made a typographic error while entering data, so I hit "delete." The delete button didn't do anything, so I typed in "delete."

How was I supposed to know that would delete the program itself and all the data. My supervisor yelled at me. A lot. I was computer-phobic for several years because I didn't know how everything could go *poof* in the blink of an eye. Elvis-has-left-the-room gone. No warning message. Nothing. Probably because my supervisor thought warning messages were unnecessary and he didn't think about the possibility of the data entry clerk hitting the wrong key.

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"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."

Ah yes, the days of "any key". I was 9ish when I had to explain the concept to my mom (and I suspect my stepfather, even though he didn't admit it. He was hovering outside the door to the computer room though).

Which let me tell you, was a painful thing for me at that age. But it did help my communication skills. Eventually.

I made my grandson's brain hurt some years back. He was about...8, maybe.

"Grandma, what kind of video games did they have when you were my age?"

When I was 8 it was 1963. That there were no electronic games of any kind was an alien concept to him. I remember how strange as it seemed to me at that age that my mother grew up with no television.

I have so many fun conversations like this with my own kids. They keep getting stuck on the fact that we had 4 channels period where they have at least 4 channels dedicated to kids' programming alone. Does not compute.

That is an hilarious poem and very well done. Thank you for posting it.

It brings back memories of the 'Beagle Brothers Peek and Poke charts' for the Apple 2 computer. We still have one of them around. We should probably get it framed. It also reminds us of 'Dr. Dobb's Journal of Calisthenics, Computing and Orthodontia' or 'Running Light Without Over Byte'.

I'm one of those people who decided to give up my landline very early on. It was really funny watching my kids trying to use a landline phone for the first time at my parents' house when we visited a few years ago. They couldn't figure out how to work it and had no clue what dial tone was. Now my parents gave up their landline, but it's still an amusing memory.

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Some people lift weights. I lift measures. It's a far more esoteric workout. - (Quoted from a personal friend)

I made a friend feel old when I mentioned to her that my iPod was 10 years old and was starting to go out. (The battery's been replaced twice, but now the video is starting to freeze/lag while the audio continues. I can't really find a reason for it online, so I expect it's just age catching up to it.) "They made iPods 10 years ago??" Yes, back when I was in high school (I was actually a late adopter of the iPod and got mine in college. Whoops, just made it worse, sorry...!

I made a friend feel old when I mentioned to her that my iPod was 10 years old and was starting to go out. (The battery's been replaced twice, but now the video is starting to freeze/lag while the audio continues. I can't really find a reason for it online, so I expect it's just age catching up to it.) "They made iPods 10 years ago??" Yes, back when I was in high school (I was actually a late adopter of the iPod and got mine in college. Whoops, just made it worse, sorry...!

I have an iPod Mini, I still use it and see no need for a new one (although this post was written on an iPad 2).

I made some kids brains hurt by telling them we didn't have texting when I was a teen, then mentioning the phone. One of them said, "so you did have texting then" and I had to explain that we only had simple landlines (we had a rotary phone when I was a child, and getting a "radio phone" was a big deal!)

BabyMama, your friend isn't that far off. The first iPods were sold in late 2001, so that's only 11.5 years. Also, did you take your iPod to your nearest Apple store? From what you said, you're probably right, but you might ask them if they can wipe and reinstall the firmware, just in case the problem is simply a corrupted OS. It won't cost you anything to ask, and you might be able to save the device.

RingTailedLemur wrote:

"One of them said, "so you did have texting then" and I had to explain that we only had simple landlines"

Remember way back when, when you'd use a phone for voice communications? Those sure were the good old days....